Pivotal arrangement for recliner chairs



Jan. 10, 1956 D. E. HlGLEY ETAL PIVOTAL ARRANGEMENT FOR RECLINER CHAIRSFiled June 19, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 HELMER W. WICKMAN M, M ATTORNEYSJan. 10, 1956 D. E. HIGLEY ETAL PIVOTAL ARRANGEMENT FOR RECLINER CHAIRS2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 19, 1952 INVENTORS 4 DAViD E. H|GLEY HELMERW. WICKMAN BY M W ATTORNEYS PIVOTAL ARRANGEMENT FOR RECLINER CHAIRSDavid E. Higley and Helmer W. Wickman, Gardner, Mass, assignors toHeywood-Wakefield Company, Gardner, Mass., a corporation ofMassachusetts Application June 19, 1952, Serial No. 294,302

1 Claim. (Cl. 155-116) This invention relates to reclining chairs and isconcerned more specifically with the pivotal arrangement of the movingelements of reclining chairs for railroad cars, buses, airplanes and thelike.

In the construction of reclining chairs for vehicles a number ofimportant considerations must be borne in mind. In the first place,space is of primary importance in vehicles and any mechanism employedfor the purpose of providing a reclining chair must be adapted to use aslittle extra space in the reclining operation as possible. Anotherfactor to be borne in mind relates to the mechanism for restoring theseat from the reclined position to the erect position. Such restoringmechanism must be easy to operate, durable and strong, but yet it shouldnot operate with so great a force as to jar the occupant of the seat.Another consideration relates to providing a comfortable arrangement forreclining the chair backward. For instance, as the chair back isreclined, it is highly desirable to maintain the seat and back resttightly together so that a gap does not open up between the cushionelements. Also as the back is reclined to the rear, the pivotalarrangement should be adapted to avoid relative motion between the chairelements and the body of the occupant. Such relative motion causes theclothing of the occupant to bind or Wrinkle and has hitherto been one ofthe major causes of discomfort in recliner chairs.

The general object of our invention may be expressed most broadly interms of providing means for taking care of the foregoingconsiderations. More specifically, the objects of our invention are toprovide a pivotal suspension arrangement for recliner chairs whereby theback rest of the chair may be reclined within a minimum of space, whileat the same time the back rest may be reclined without causing relativemotion between the back rest and the body of the occupant. A furtherobject of our invention is to provide reclining mechanism in which theweight of the occupant is employed to assist springs in returning theback rest from the reclined position to the erect position. Stillanother object is to provide reclining mechanism further adapted topermit reclining without opening up a gap between the cushion elementsof the seat and back rest.

In the accomplishment of these and other objects of our invention, weprovide a chair with a cushion seat and back rest pivotally mountedwithin a chair frame. The back rest is mounted to pivot at a pointsubstantially above its lower extremity. By mounting the back rest inthis manner the pivot axis of the back rest corresponds substantially tothe small of the back rather than the seat of the occupant. This permitsthe occupant to recline against the back rest by a kind of rockingmotion with his body firmly against the back rest rather than slidingrelative thereto. This feature adds materially to the comfort of thechair and by reducing the pivotal radius of the back rest, ensuresreclining action within a minimum of space.

Another feature of our invention is that the back rest nited StatesPatent 6 2,7 30AM Patented Jan. 10, 1956 is provided with side supportframe members called back irons which pivotally support the back restand extend downwardly from the pivot point to the lower extremity of theback rest. The rear portion of the cushion seat is pivotally connectedto the lower ends of these back irons by upwardly extending arms. Thusthe rear portion of the cushion seat is pivoted to the back rest alongan axis coinciding with the lower extremity of the back rest with theresult that, no matter how the back rest is reclined, a gap between thecushion seat and the back rest cannot appear. Also, the full depth ofthe cushion elements of the seat remains along the rear corner of theseat, thus materially enhancing the comfort of the chair.

A further feature of our invention is that the frame elements of theback rest which support the rear portion of the seat provide a shortlever arm by means of which the weight of the occupant is employed inassisting conventional springs in restoring the back rest from thereclined position to the normal, erect position.

Still another feature of our invention includes the provision of a pivotlink supporting the forward portion of the seat whereby the seat israised during reclining. This feature, in conjunction with thesuspension arrangement of the rear portion of the seat, permits the seatto rise and come more into alignment with the back rest when the chairis fully reclined despite the elevated pivot axis of the back rest. Thisalignment of seat and back rest lends materially to the overall comfortor" the chair.

Further objects and features of our invention will be best understoodand appreciated from a detailed description of a preferred embodimentthereof, selected for purposes of illustration, and shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a View in perspective of the recliner chair of our inventionas it may be installed in a vehicle;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of a chair made in accordance withour invention in the erect position;

Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation of the chair folly reclined; and

Fig. 4 is a partially broken away view in front elevation along thelines 4;% of Fig. 2, showing the bearing suspension arrangement.

The general organization of the preferred embodiment of our inventionherein shown includes side chair support elements it) connected andbraced by frame rods 12, a pivotally mounted back rest 14, and a cushionseat 16. As herein shown, the recliner chair of our invention may bearranged in a pair of chairs as shown in Fig. l with leg rests 13 andother usual conveniences. However, since our invention is directedspecifically to the pivotal suspension arrangement for the back rest 14-and seat element 16, these conveniences will not be described in detailherein.

The back rest 14 as herein shown is an upholstered element comprisingconventional frame members (not shown) with cushion elements mountedthereon (not shown) and covered by a conventional upholstery covering.The back rest 14 is pivotally connected to the chair frame on the aisleside by means of a pivot 2-3} mounted on the side frame it Centrally theback rest 14 is pivotally supported by a pivot 22 which is mounted on anupwardly extending arm 24 mounted on a cross frame member 12. Theelements of the back rest 14 which bear the direct weight or" theoccupant are called back irons and are indicated at 26. The back irons26 are provided with bearings and are journalled on the pivots 2t) and22 at a point substantially above the lower extremity of the back rest.Thus the pivot axis established in the back rest 14 corresponds to thepelvic area of the back of the occupant and permits him to rock againstthe back rest while reclining. Below the pivots, the back irons 26extend downwardly to a point coinciding with the lower extremity of theback rest. Conventional spring mechanism (not shown) is provided withinthe side frame operatively associated with the adjacent back iron 26 tohelp bring the back rest from the reclined position to the erectposition.

The cushion seat 16 herein shown comprises conventional frame members 28upon which is mounted conventional cushion elements (not shown) coveredby upholstery. The forward portion of the seat 16 is supported withinthe chair frame by means of a pair of pivot links 30 which are connectedat their upper ends to the seat frame members 28, and at their lowerends to the chair frame rods 12. The rear portion of the seat 16 issupported by means of upwardly extending arms 32 which are welded to theseat frame members 28. At their upper ends, the arms 32 are pivotallyconnected to the lower extensions of the back irons 26 along the axis ofthe upper rear corner of the cushion seat 16 and the lower extremity ofthe back rest 14. Thus it will be seen that when the back rest isreclined, the pivotal motion between the back rest 14 and the seat 16does not open a gap between the lower extremity of the back rest and therear corner of the seat. Also it will be seen with reference to Fig. 4that the full depth of the cushioning in the seat is provided betweenthe arms 32 along the rear corner edge of the seat such that when theback rest is reclined, the occupant of the chair will feel no hard crosssupport element in that area of the seat.

With reference to Fig. 3, it will also be seen that, wire the occupantis fully reclined and resting against the back rest 14, his weight willtend to keep the chair in the fully reclined position, but when theoccupant shifts his weight slightly forward in order to come to theerect position, the lower extensions of the back irons 26 then becomelever arms, and the weight of the occupant then assists in urging theback rest from the reclined position to the erect position. This featureis important in providing the spring erecting elements of conventionaldesign (not shown) with an additional restoring force about the pivotaxis of the back rest and insures longer life as well as improvedoperation of the reclining mechanism. Additionally it will be seen that,as the back rest is reclined, the lower extensions of the back irons 26lift the rear portion of the seat and bring it more into alignment withthe back rest so as to make the combination of the seat and the backrest more even.

Minor variations of this preferred embodiment of our invention will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art after the concept of ourinvention has been more fully understood. For instance, links 30 may bepositioned more forwardly and also the pivot axis between the back restand the seat may be moved somewhat to the rear without causing anyserious defect. Therefore we do not intend that the invention be limitedto the precise form of the preferred embodiment herein shown, but ratherthat it should be limited in accordance with the terms of the appendedclaim.

Having thus described and disclosed a preferred embodiment of ourinvention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentis:

A reclining chair for vehicles comprising a base frame, a cushion backrest, means for pivotally connecting said back rest to said frame at apoint substantially above the lower extremity of the back rest; backrest frame arms connected to said back rest extending downwardly fromsaid pivot points along the sides of said back rest to the lower cornerof said back rest cushioning, a full depth of cushioning between theextremities of said back rest frame arms; a cushion seat including inits construction a seat frame, resilient cushion elements mounted onsaid seat frame and upwardly extending seat suspension arms mounted onsaid seat frame along the sides thereof at the rear of the cushion seat;means pivotally connected to the base frame of said chair and movablysupporting the forward portion of said cushion seat including linkspivotally connected at their lower ends to said base frame and pivotallyconnected at their upper ends to said forward portion of said cushionseat, and adapted to carry the forward portion of said seat in a forwardand upward arcuate path when the back rest of said seat is reclined; andmeans pivotally connecting the upwardly extending seat suspension armsof the cushion seat to the lower extremity of said back rest frame armsat a point substantially coinciding with the line of the upper rearcorner of said cushion seat and the lower extremity of said cushion backrest, whereby the full depth of seat cushion will be provided betweenthe said upwardly extending arms of the cushion seat, the said seatcushion will pivot relative to the back rest on an axis coinciding withthe lower extremity of the back rest without opening a gap therebetween,and the back rest will pivot relative to the chair frame on an axissubstantially above the lower extremity of said back rest.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,964,519 Knudsen June 26, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS 3,873 Great Britain of1886 222,898 Great Britain Oct. 13, 1924 448,034 Great Britain May 26,1936

